20 movie and TV characters who had it worse than their book counterpart

While adapting Tolkien’s The Hobbit  from page to screen, Peter Jackson and his collaborators drew in several stories that take place outside the frame of the book. Most notably, they show Gandalf infiltrating the sinister fortress of the Necromancer. Unlike in Tolkien’s works, where the wizard managed to escape largely unscathed, the films see him ensnared by the Necromancer — revealed to be Sauron — and he has to rely on Galadriel, Elrond, Saruman, and Radagast to rescue him. It’s a rather ignominious fate for a being who would go on to defeat a Balrog and play a key role in fighting back against the encroaching armies of Sauron himself. 

Kíli is one of the thirteen dwarves that set out for the Lonely Mountain in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit. Unlike his book counterpart, who doesn’t have much of a storyline, here is given quite an extensive subplot, mostly involving a doomed love affair with the Elf Tauriel. As a result, he endures quite a lot of anguish in terms of emotions and bodily harm. Like his counterpart in the novel, he does eventually die, though in this case, it is in defense of Tauriel rather than Thorin (his brother also meets a grisly fate at the hands of the Orc Azog).

Even though Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy might never quite achieve the heights of The Lord of the Rings, it is still entertaining, and Richard Armitage is undeniably compelling as Thorin Oakenshield, who is the leader of the quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain. Thorin endures more than a few travails throughout the film, and he notably suffers both injury and the hands of the brutal Orc Azog. While his novel counterpart is no stranger to adversity, he doesn’t endure nearly as much, primarily because the Azog storyline was invented for the film. In both versions, however, he does at least die a hero’s death.

Rebecca remains one of Alfred Hitchcock’s most noted works, a richly told and provocative gothic thriller. One of its most notable characters is Judith Anderson’s Mrs. Danvers, the sinister maid who, at the end of the film, perishes in the fiery inferno of Manderley. It’s quite an ignominious end for the character, who seems to have never recovered from the death of Rebecca. Her fate in the novel is far more ambiguous since it’s not revealed whether she died or managed to survive. What is certain is that, at the very least, she doesn’t explicitly suffer the same fate as her unfortunate screen counterpart. 

Louis de Pointe du Lac is the beloved creation of Anne Rice, and he is the vampire at the heart of her novel Interview with the Vampire and its film adaptation, in which Brad Pitt portrays him. Unlike in the book, however, where it’s his brother who dies, in the film, it’s somehow worse, as he narrates that he lost his wife and their unborn child. It’s wrenching either way, but it’s clear just how much the death of two members of his family drives Louis into the pit of despair and despondency, which means that he is uniquely vulnerable to the promises held out by Lestat, who seems to offer him the chance to escape from the agony that his life has become.

The works of Stephen King don’t always lend themselves to strong adaptations, but one particularly fascinating example is The Mist. The novella is terrifying enough, focusing on the residents of a small town who are trapped in a grocery store by monsters. Still, it has a somewhat hopeful ending, as a group of them set off hoping to find a safe haven. The film, by contrast, is remarkably nihilistic and bleak. Having killed his son and some of the other survivors as part of a murder-suıcide pact, David Drayton has to watch as soldiers arrive and seem to beat back the tide of monstrosities, rendering his sacrifice useless. It’s a horrifying ending worthy of the master of horror himself.

Jonathan Groff gives a memorable performance as Eric in the film Knock at the Cabin, directed by M. Night Shyamalan and based on the novel by Paul G. Tremblay. In the novel, Eric and his husband, Andrew, survive, deciding to risk the end of the world by not performing the sacrifice demanded by the sinister strangers who show up at their cabin. In the film, on the other hand, Eric decides to offer himself up as a sacrifice. Though this makes sense from a Hollywood filmmaking perspective, it’s also a heartbreaking end for a character (even if his death does seem to avert the apocalypse).

Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park is mostly a faithful adaptation of Michael Crichton’s novel of the same name. However, he does make some notable changes in adapting it for a Hollywood blockbuster mentality. Several characters die in the film who don’t die in the book, most notably the big game hunter Muldoon, who is mauled by a raptor who has managed to outwit him. This is a tragic fate for this remarkably sympathetic character who, unlike many of the others who perished at the claws and teeth of the island’s inhabitants, genuinely seemed like a nice enough guy.

In Rudyard Kipling’s original The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book, Akela is one of the wisest wolves of the pack, and he plays a key role in adopting Mowgli and mentoring him (and he later dies while fighting beside him). While he plays a similar role in the live-action adaptation produced by Disney, he also endures a great deal more. Most notably, he is killed by the deadly and tyrannical tiger Shere Khan, who throws him from a cliff to his death. It’s a shocking and terrifying change to the original novel and the original Disney film from 1967.

Viserys Targaryen is arguably the most tragic character (so far) in HBO’s House of the Dragon. In the novel, he is depicted as a friendly and jovial king who is determined his elder daughter Rhaenyra will ascend the throne. In the series, however, he suffers from a debilitating illness that slowly eats away at his body until he is little more than a decaying husk. Though he is not without his flaws and does make questionable decisions, there’s no doubt that he endures far more than his novel counterpart, and he dies in agony, unaware that the kingdom he ruled is about to descend into a bloody civil war.  

The Martells of Dorne were always a tough fit for HBO’s Game of Thrones, often too far from the main action to feel like an authentic part of the series. Still, Doran did demonstrate a subtle grasp of politics, much like his novel counterpart, who was playing a very long game indeed. In the HBO adaptation, however, Doran suffers the anonymity of being overthrown by his brother’s paramour and her brood of children. It’s a rather ignominious end for someone who has managed to keep Dorne intact despite the chaos engulfing the rest of the Seven Kingdoms, and, so far, it is quite removed from what happens to him in the novels.

Agatha Christie’s fictional Belgian detective Hercule Poirot has been depicted in numerous media, including the recent spate of films from Kenneth Branagh: Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, and A Haunting in Venice. Branagh’s character has endured quite a lot more trauma than his novel counterpart. Among other things, he was a soldier in World War I. He not only witnessed his captain getting killed, but he also endured significant scarring to his face (thus necessitating the famous mustache he would later don). While this gives him more psychological depth than he is usually accorded in the novels, it’s somewhat at odds with Christie’s characterization of her creation.  

In The Lord of the Rings, Denethor is the proud and haughty Steward of Gondor. While he has been led astray by his use of the palantír, led to see just what Sauron has led him to see, he still maintains his dignity. This is true right up until the end when he lays down on a pyre and welcomes the flames. In Peter Jackson’s version, however, he is depicted as a cruel and haughty man willing to sacrifice his son on a suıcide mission, only to feel sorry for doing so and ultimately try to set them both on fire. His ending is far less dignified than in the novel, as he accidentally sets himself on fire and then flees, ultimately throwing himself off the spire of Minas Tirith.

In Frank Herbert’s novel Dune, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is a shrewd, cunning, and ruthless operator who understands how power works and is willing to crush his rivals at any cost. He’s also notoriously sadistic and homosexual, and it’s these traits that are foregrounded in David Lynch’s film adaptation. Most notoriously, the Baron is marred by enormous pimples on his face, which are meant to convey his depravity (the film was released during the height of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s). Though he ultimately meets the same fate as his novel counterpart, the film goes out of its way to make sure he suffers even before he brings about the ruin of House Atreides.

When HBO’s Game of Thrones began, Tyrion Lannister was one of the best characters on the show, with a subtle grasp of politics that was shrewder than almost anyone else. As the series went on, however, he gradually became little more than a side character, often feebly offering advice to Queen Daenerys, which she often did not take. This is quite a come-down from the series and the novel series on which it’s based, the latter of which also demonstrated how canny of a political operator Tyrion could be when offered the chance to show his mettle (even if, in A Dance with Dragons, he does become a bit ancillary to the main action). 

Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of Stephen King’s classic sci-fi novel The Shining  may not have earned him any credit with the author, but it features an undeniably electric performance from Jack Nicholson as the tormented author Jack Torrance. Though this character becomes a villain in both versions, the book tends to be more sympathetic toward him. This extends to his death, which in the book gives him a chance to save his family and his soul. In the film, by contrast, he not only suffers the terrible fate of freezing to death, but he also has no real chance to redeem himself in the eyes of his family.

Perrin Aybara is one of the most important characters in Robert Jordan's sprawling epic series The Wheel of Time. He is one of those ta'veren, a figure around whom the Wheel weaves the Pattern (essentially, he's one of the fulcrums of fate itself). In the novel, he is a solid and likable man who endures his fair share of heartache, but in the Amazon series, he suffers an indignity almost as soon as the series starts when he accidentally kills his own wife. This is a stunning departure from the book, leaving a deep emotional scar that Perrin will have to contend with for the rest of his life.

In ancient Greek myths, Menelaus was Helen's husband, who ran away with Paris to his home city of Troy (some variants say he kidnapped her). Menelaus, along with the other kings of Greece, where he manages not just to survive the war but also reunites with Heen and brings her back to Greece. However, his fate in Wolfgang Petersen's Troy was significantly less triumphant. Rather than surviving the war and reuniting with Helen, he is instead slain by Hector. It's a rather ignominious end for one of the noteworthy heroes of the Trojan War and the King of Sparta.

Faramir is one of the most important characters in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings, first in The Two Towers and even more so in The Return of the King. In both films, it’s clear that he is very much overshadowed by his elder brother Boromir and that his father resents him for surviving when the other perishes. It’s also clear that Faramir suffers greatly due to his father’s unwavering and relentless antagonism. While this dynamic is somewhat present in the book, it’s much more subdued, and thus, Faramir becomes one of the most sympathetic and tragic figures in the film trilogy.

The translation of Ron Weasley from the original Harry Potter  books to screen has, in some ways, been rough. Though Rupert Grint certainly does his best to elevate the role, he is often hampered by the films’ insistence on making him mostly into a figure of fun and comic relief. Unlike Hermione and Harry, both of whom have moments to shine, for the most part, Ron is an appendage there to highlight how clever and brave the other two are. This is particularly true in the later installments of the film series, which seem to go out of their way to show how inferior Ron is to his best friend and love interest.